Ubuntu geniuses? Anyone...anyone...Bueller...

[sandimoon 72517]

I feel a killing spree coming on.

Is there anyone here who knows Ubuntu?

I have used it for 3 years, love it.

But when I installed my A/C the other day, I blew a fuse.

So I of course popped the breaker back on, turned back on my PC & gibberish appeared.

Did all the right stuff to reboot but had to drag my monstrosity of a desktop to the place that deals with it

here in Van called Free Geek.

They use open source software, offer free tech support, ecological disposal of computers & volunteer opportunities.

Great people & free.

So my hard drive was as reading corrupted, most likely from a power surge.

They installed a different O/S on a new

hard-drive & I transferred my saved info from the old one.

Then they downloaded the support software for Flash, mp3, etc.

They checked the Flash on Youtube, all good & I merrily trudged home.

So I get back, start it up. It is vastly different than the other OS.

Fine, I have to relearn some stuff, I can deal with that.

But later I want to watch some of my crap.

Big Bang to be precise. lol

I can hear sound but no video.

I have tried VLC, Movie player, Banshee Media & can't get any video.

On top of it all, now when I do any scrolling, it skips.

I don't know how to really explain, it's like it's dragging

slowly & jumping & it is discomfiting to be looking at it

while working.

And not one of my files that I transferred to the new drive.

I searched everywhere, can not find them.

I know, I know, I should have double checked.

But they have helped before with upgrades & problems & this

has never happened.

Are any of you amazing tech guys at all Ubuntu savvy?

Anything I can do to avoid another trip there would be so appreciated.

If I have to cart this thing back & spend another

4 hours getting it fixed, I swear I may easily spend the weekend in holding.

Thanks for your time!!!

Sandi

[backrubman 64800]

I feel a killing spree coming on.

Is there anyone here who knows Ubuntu?

I have used it for 3 years, love it.

But when I installed my A/C the other day, I blew a fuse.

 

So we seem to be talking about 3 distinct problems here. Audio, Video and missing files. I'm sure you appreciate the difficultly in trying to be of much help here but lets try...

 

Audio: Ubuntu is great at doing sound and supporting all manner of sound hardware so let's just assume the sound is working! Perhaps you plugged the speakers into the wrong jack when you hooked it up? There are often 3 or more and sometimes they aren't color coded. Can happen. Or it could be simply muted (or turned all the way down).

 

Video: That's a little tougher but you wouldn't be the first to plug the monitor into the junkie on-board video when there is a higher performance card in of of the slots. Ubuntu is smart enough to sense where there is or is not a monitor. If that's not the case it does have system updates much like a windows machine which could achieve a better match to your video hardware.

 

When it comes to the missing files, you say "I transferred my saved info from the old one", well if you did I have to assume you'd know were you put them so lets just suggest that if it is "important" that you not loose these files, best go back before they loose track of which disk drive was yours.

 

Hopefully I've caught or helped solved one or two of the three problems, hope so. If not then the sooner you go back to the repair shop looking for your files the better chance you have of finding them. Sorry to hear of your frustrations.

[sandimoon 72517]

You are awesome. thank you!!!

Yes there are 3 problems.

1-) The files I am mad at myself about, I should have checked for

sure. I have most backed up by I had some personal photos I

may not recover. Bummer big time.

I may have to just live with my lack of follow-up.

2-) The sound isn't an issue.

Now I forgot to qualify, most of my media

was & still is on a 250G

slave hard drive where I kept it safe.

I can still hear everything fine but there just

are no images on the screen of any

of the media players.

My screen works great, my music is fine,

my books are fine.

Just not the video of my films , tv shows.

And you tube video now is behind the sound.

I thought it may have been because I downloaded my video media with a different O/S

that they will not play on the one I have now?

Meaning the video part does not transfer.

But I have since downloaded some movies & the video

still won't work.

Or is it maybe my video card went kaput on the way home?

3-) Then there is the weird scroll problem.

It's all skippy & grabbing rather than the screen flowing smoothly.

 

I will look up the software you mentioned & give it a try.

I just feel like a doofus because I always double check & I can usually fix shit myself.

Once I learn, it never leaves my brain, hence my frustration.

Thanks so much for your time BR, I kinda felt you'd step up.

You are such a doll.

Sandi

[backrubman 64800]

I thought it may have been because I downloaded my video media with a different O/S

that they will not play on the one I have now?

 

No that definitely wouldn't be the case. I'm thinking the jumpy scrolling and lack of full motion video are related. Just poor video performance in general for whatever reason.

 

As for your video card going south, not likely, they tend to either work or not at all but it is possible that some video driver changes in the newer Ubuntu has affected performance of your particular video setup so dropping in a different video card, even one that would normally be discarded could do the trick, no so much what you have is broken, if you know what I mean.

 

We'd need a lot of additional to say, hey here is exactly what you need to do (like the version of Ubuntu you are now running, helpful to know what you were running before that you were used to and worked so well for you too and of course details on the video hardware and chip set).

 

I note that there are lots of YouTube videos on optimizing video playback performance with Ubuntu and even though your audio is lagging might find some help there.

 

It should be an easy problem for the geek squad to solve sitting in front of the machine but in light of your missing files and that you still have a chance to recover them by going back, I think you'd end up the happiest in the end if you did go back as much of a pain as that may be.

 

Wish I could be more help, I know it's distressing.

[whatsup 11893]

I am not a techno savvy geek but I recently had to reinstall the drivers for my video card and all was good after that. Wish you the best in resolving your issues.

[Rassilon 982]

You said they installed a different OS. Different than Ubuntu? Different version? Please be more specific in that regard for best help.

 

Assuming it is still Linux based here is my first guess.

 

Videos are DVD rips. If this is the case, you will need to install DeCSS in order to decode them. Once I know what OS we are talking about I can provide more specific advice.

 

If it is Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Lubuntu, etc, etc go through the following.

 

Install ubuntu-restricted-extras package through the software centre/synaptic.

 

After that, follow the instructions from here:https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/PlayingDVDs

 

Turning off compiz is a catch all solution that solves hundreds of problems.

 

Are you sure the 3D drivers are even activated? That could explain some things. Ask if you need help with this, but they are under either "Additional Drivers" or "Restricted Drivers".

 

Flash sucks. Alot. Flash on Linux is forgotten about. It may be just that for YouTube, but installing the above things may help fix it too.

 

Would like to know what you mean by "different OS" and what you have for a video card for better help. Will be willing to help via real time chat, remote desktop control, etc if it comes down to it.

 

I realise the above is very general and probably not very helpful, you probably went through much already. Those are my first thoughts and as we know more we can help further.

 

Good luck.

[sandimoon 72517]

A different Ubuntu.

The O/S now is 12.04 LTS (which I was told can have speed related problems due to graphics updates).

What I had last week was 10.10.

 

They did install the ubuntu-restricted-extra-packages.

But they never did the libdvdread4 package.

I have these drivers: (jockey-gtk)

But I do not have these: (jockey-kde)

I will install the above & hopefully it will resolve the problem.

If not, I am actually considering just reinstalling the older version I had, I still have a CD.

I used it for over 2 years, am comfortable with it & other than the power surge weirdness this time around, most issues were just a learning curve for me, nothing like this.

Worst case is that I can unmount the hard drive rather than cart the whole computer, now that it seems to be a software/driver issue.

 

You guys are just incredible.

Not only the breadth of your knowledge, but the time you have taken to reach out & help.

My gratitude is immeasurable.

Thank you so, so much.

Sandi

[Rassilon 982]

Ah, yes, the Unity interface. The whole industry is forcing us to turn out desktops into phones and tablets.

 

You may want to try one of the Ubuntu derivatives like Kubuntu or Lubuntu. underneath they are the same, but the GUI is more traditional and not about cracking the phone market.

 

The Additional Drivers toll (jokey) does not load drivers over a certain age. Would be good to know what your video card mode and make is.

 

LibDVDread works wonders after it is installed. Do not give up.

[sandimoon 72517]

Backrubman & Whatsup: thank you for calming me down.

It made me feel a lot better knowing it wasn't a hardware problem & saved me from killing my computer.

Rassilion:

I installed jockey-kde from the Ubuntu software Centre.

I installed the libdvdread4 package from the Synaptic Manager.

While there, I removed the Compiz.

I restarted my computer.

Played a few things on VLC & Movie Player, went to Youtube & all is well in my realm.

And the jumpy scrolling problem is gone now,

all smooth & clean.

I can't believe you walked me through it over a keyboard.

You guys are just the best & absolutely amaze me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Sandi

[toine 30556]

Well, it is indeed great to see all these people who are tech savvy and willing to help a friend on Cerb.

I wish I had such skills, lol!

toine

[Rassilon 982]

Sandimoon: I am glad that things are better now.

 

Thank you for your kind words left on my profile page. It is too bad I cannot use "Stranger from Vancouver I never met and whose job requires discretion so I cannot really identify her says I am really good." on my IT résumé. :-)

 

You use Ubuntu, made a Bueller. reference and watch the Big Bang Theory on television. Rather disappointed that you are on the other side of the country.

 

Some tips to leave you with. They may have improved it with 4, but to really get it working, after installing libdvdread you need to run a script that it installed on your computer. Please make sure you did that if need be. I sent you to a document on it right? I am sure you will be OK if you read the whole page.

 

Compiz is OK to have on the system. It can be activated and dedicativedat will through some setting. If it is siomething you like, keep that in mind. Turn it off when it interferes and keep it on the rest of the time. I have no use for it, so it is off, but I am glad it exists to show off the system when needed.

 

You may want to check out Mint Linux. It is Ubuntu with much of the above already set for you, plus a customised Gnome 3 environment that makes Gnome 3 and Unity usable on a desktop. Just search the web for "Mint Linux".

[sandimoon 72517]

Sandimoon: I am glad that things are better now.

 

Thank you for your kind words left on my profile page. It is too bad I cannot use "Stranger from Vancouver I never met and whose job requires discretion so I cannot really identify her says I am really good." on my IT résumé. :-)

LMFAO!!!!

This cracked me up!

But you can always use my e-mail, it´s on my profile.

I would be happy to be a reference.

You use Ubuntu, made a Bueller. reference and watch the Big Bang Theory on television. Rather disappointed that you are on the other side of the country.

Yes sir, a true Rénaissance woman. :icon_wink:

A fan of anything user friendly, cheesy 80´s movies, smart TV.

I am also a Kraft Dinner Purist & addicted to Duck Dynasty.

Wonder what a shrink would do with all that?:icon_eek:

 

 

Some tips to leave you with. They may have improved it with 4, but to really get it working, after installing libdvdread you need to run a script that it installed on your computer. Please make sure you did that if need be. I sent you to a document on it right? I am sure you will be OK if you read the whole page.

 

Compiz is OK to have on the system. It can be activated and dedicativedat will through some setting. If it is siomething you like, keep that in mind. Turn it off when it interferes and keep it on the rest of the time. I have no use for it, so it is off, but I am glad it exists to show off the system when needed.

 

You may want to check out Mint Linux. It is Ubuntu with much of the above already set for you, plus a customised Gnome 3 environment that makes Gnome 3 and Unity usable on a desktop. Just search the web for "Mint Linux".

Thanks for the tips.

I have a neighbour who is pretty good &

he gave me a disc with Puppy Linux to try.

It came with a ton of pre-existing stuff & copious software options.

Also, with one click, it imported ALL of my bookmarks from Ubuntu.

That impressed me.

It seems to be much faster than Ubuntu, on my PC at any rate.

I can´t open my e-books, though.

(They are in Mobi & Epub.)

I can´t find a Package software program for it & the last

time I tried a Terminal Install, I messed up & crashed everything.

Ok, I just (10pm pst ) checked out the Mint site.

It looks really great.

I am going to look to see if it can boot from a USB.

I don´t have a blank disk. lol

Can I run both Puppy & Mint side by side & switch back & forth as I need certain available programs?

That would be so cool!!

You are awesome.

Thanks again,

Sandi

[Rassilon 982]

Puppy Linux is specifically designed for super low end computers. nothing wrong with it, but it starts with the presumption that you would not be using something like a recent desktop for it which could be restraining.

 

I have used it though I do admit it flies and feels great. There are many testimonials on its website of users using it as their primary system on a full fledged modern desktop though.

 

They came up with a package system at one point. Oh yeah that's right, the dot pet format. Menu > Setup > Puppy Package Manager. See http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Software.

 

Multisystem is a programme that will take any ISO of software that can be a LiveCD and make it bootable off of a USB memory stick. Regardless, I am sure Mint does that itself.

 

You can install Mint and Puppy and boot between them, but switch over instantly, no. You can though run one and then the other inside a virtual machine which is close. I recommend VirtualBox for this.

 

Calibre is an epub reading programme. It is the software centre, and there is a download form the Calibre website to install it on any other distro using some Python command.